Gibbons happier without Shea
1. Who needs Shea?: One day after Shea Hillenbrand’s outburst and subsequent dismissal from the team, the Blue Jays finally had some good news. They defeated the Yankees 5-4 in extra innings, closing the gap between the teams to 3 games. Vernon Wells hit a game-winning homer off Mariano Rivera, the first time this season that Rivera has given up a homer. For Wells it was his fourth hit of the game and 24th homer of the year. He is on pace for 42 homers and 129 RBIs on the year. But the story coming into the game was the pitching matchup between Roy Halladay and Mike Mussina, as each is a Cy Young candidate. Neither pitched extremely well, as Halladay gave up 3 runs and Mussina 4. BJ Ryan then blew his third save of the season, spoiling a chance for Halladay’s 13th victory. But the Blue Jays, who have been in third place almost the entire season, still got the much-needed win in one of their most important series of the season.
2. Take Two: The payoff game between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox would mean bragging rights for one team until they meet again on August 11. And that team was the Tigers, who won using their strength–pitching. Kenny Rogers, who had had 4 consecutive starts with 4+ earned runs, settled down in this game with 6 hits and one run allowed through six innings. Rogers barely outpitched Jose Contreras, who gave up two runs in seven innings. Contreras has now lost back to back starts after winning 17 straight decisions, the first player to do that in 68 years according to Elias Says. Chris Shelton and Ivan Rodriguez drove in runs for the Tigers, whose 2-1 win gave the team a commanding 5.5 game lead in the division. Chicago is now in danger of being passed by Minnesota, who is carrying a 7-game winning streak and is only four games behind the White Sox.
3. It’s all good in San Fran: The Giants were full of good news yesterday. Most importantly, Barry Bonds was not indicted by a grand jury for perjury. Hours later, Barry went deep for his 722nd career homerun and his 14th this season. Also, the Giants defeated the Padres 9-3 to move within one game of the division leaders. San Francisco got a near-complete game from Noah Lowry, who has been very inconsistent this year and holds a 5-6 record. They have now won 3 games in a row, which will move any team up a few places in the packed NL West. Their streak has come at a good time–the Rockies and Dodgers are struggling and the Padres aren’t playing very well either.
4. Still on top: Though the Braves have been red-hot recently , the Mets still are the division leaders by a huge margin. While Atlanta was off last night the Mets took a dozen-game lead in the division as they defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-2 in extras. Stud starters Bronson Arroyo and Tom Glavine each allowed two runs but got a no-decision in this game. With the game tied 2-2 in the 10th, Endy Chavez hit an RBI double and then scored a run off a Carlos Beltran double. Both runs were charged to Gary Majewski, who has allowed a run in each of his three appearances since being acquired by the Reds. The Mets victory was good news for the Braves; while they fell further behind in the division they got a bit closer to the Wild Card-leading Reds.
5. Finally, some relief: The 45-50 Braves just needed some bullpen help after blowing a major-league high 20 saves this season. They finally got that on Thursday, when they traded for Indians closer Bob Wickman. The Braves just gave up a minor-league catcher to get Wickman, who has a 4.18 ERA and 15 saves on the year but should be helped by pitching in the weaker National League. In 2005 Wickman had 45 saves while only blowing 5, and for his career has 229 saves and a 3.64 ERA. At 37 years old, he is not a long term solution for the Braves, but he should help this year down the stretch. He becomes a free-agent after this year and it would be surprising for Atlanta to re-sign him.
